Avnet Expands its Internet of Things Portfolio with relayr Solutions

Avnet to provide partners with the enterprise middleware platform,
skills, starter kits and other resources needed to capitalize on the
high-growth potential of IOT

November 29, 2016 10:00 AM Eastern Standard Time

PHOENIX--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Avnet,
Inc. (NYSE: AVT),
a leading global technology distributor, announced today an agreement
with relayr
to deliver world-class internet of things (IOT) solutions in the U.S.
and Canada. Through this agreement, partners will have access to
relayr’s enterprise middleware platform, and powerful, simple-to-use
tools that enable fast and cost-effective development of new solutions,
equipment and services for IOT. Partners will be able to leverage
relayr’s technology innovations and starter kit to help develop IOT
solutions for their customers from prototype to roll-out, along with
end-to-end support.

“relayr addresses one of the central challenges of IOT with a truly
comprehensive enterprise middleware platform that can turn our partners
into IOT solution developers,” said Colin Blair, vice president of data
analytics and IOT solutions, Avnet Technology Solutions, Americas. “Our
partners will be able to use relayr’s offerings to create IOT solutions
that can easily be integrated with their customers’ existing
technologies. Working together, Avnet and relayr will empower partners
to help their customers create IOT solutions that span a wide range of
devices and offer solutions from simple experimentation kits to
industrial hardware, supporting their customers’ digital transformation
processes.”

Now available through Avnet, the cloud-based enterprise middleware
platform from relayr allows communications from any service, any
software, any platform, and any sensor. Additionally, Avnet will provide
its partners with relayr’s open source software development kits and
industrial-grade sensor kits for rapid customer prototyping. For
example, relayr’s Cisco IOT starter kit will be available through Avnet,
which is designed to provide partners with a quick and affordable proof
of concept to allow their customers to experience the advantages of IOT
fog software for industrial deployments.

Principally addressing markets in manufacturing, smart buildings,
retail, government, healthcare and energy, partners will have access to
relayr’s solutions, which provide a unique full-service, end-to-end
stack with an open API, streaming services and open source libraries for
both hardware and software, facilitated by a step-by-step acceleration
method. Additionally, partners can leverage relayr’s middleware toolset,
consulting services, connections capabilities to different devices from
different manufacturers, and abilities to provision software for
building new sensor-based retrofitting solutions across any device and
any “thing.”

“relayr plays a pivotal role in providing all key components to develop
complete IOT solutions, and Avnet has the time-tested experience and
expertise to deliver those solutions with the value demanded by the
channel,” said Josef Brunner, relayr CEO and co-founder. “Our
cloud-based enterprise middleware platform for industrial IOT enables
organizations to connect any device, harmonize heterogeneous data
streams, and make them available for dashboards, mobile apps, services,
and analytics.”

Developing and deploying end-to-end IOT solutions can be complex and
challenging. Avnet provides partners with a wide range of resources from
the edge to the enterprise to develop IOT solutions that effectively
gather information, connect to the internet, and securely manage and
analyze data. Avnet will also provide extensive sales enablement and
hands-on trainings for partners around relayr’s Cisco gateway product
offering, relayr middleware, consumer-grade and industrial sensors.

“IOT is an ecosystem play at its core – technology suppliers have an
important piece in this ecosystem, but it takes an orchestrator like
Avnet to bring those pieces together in a way that enables partners to
create high-value innovative solutions for their customers,” said Hash
Malik, CEO of SPS, Inc., a provider of innovative cognitive, IOT and
analytics solutions and an Avnet partner. “Thought-leading organizations
like relayr and Avnet have the foresight and know-how in this space. We
can see from our own experiences in rapidly developing IOT apps for our
customers that the Avnet and relayr partnership is providing ingredients
that partners like us can leverage to be successful.”

Avnet’s approach to IOT exemplifies how Avnet is helping partners excel
through specialization while capitalizing on the high-growth,
next-generation technologies that are redefining the future. In addition
to IOT, partners can leverage Avnet’s in-depth expertise in
complementary technology market segments, including the cloud, cognitive
computing, the data center, data analytics, mobility, security and
enterprise networking.

Avnet will be hosting a series
of roadshows related to IOT, Cisco and relayr in 2016, and details
on this can be accessed at the Avnet
IOT Roadshow webpage. To learn more about these offerings or how
Avnet can help partners grow IOT businesses, contact your Avnet
representative.

All brands and trade names are trademarks or registered trademarks,
and are the properties of their respective owners. Avnet disclaims any
proprietary interest in marks other than its own.

About Avnet, Inc.

From components to cloud and from design to disposal, Avnet, Inc. (NYSE: AVT)
accelerates the success of customers who build, sell and use technology
globally by providing them with a comprehensive portfolio of innovative
products, services and solutions. For more information, visit www.avnet.com.